It's Just an Imitation
by IHaveAMessedUpSenseOfHumor
Summary: 'You and me, together.' Sometimes knowing what's real and what's an imitation gets confusing. Even if it is only artificial sometimes you don't want to know. AndroidShipping. Three-shot. Binary code without translations because darn it you guys aren't idiots and I won't treat you that way. Gift!fic for ErEkE.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own nor claim to own this franchise.

**Author Note: **This came after watching Fullmetal Alchemist. So yeah. You'll know what I'm saying when ya see it. Placido's POV is in italics. Mmn italics. Oh yeah this is a three-shot, the creation, the evolution and the adaptation.

It's Just an Imitation:

The Creation

Things never went well with Z-ONE and the rebuilt us. The memories had to be implanted after the bodies were built and thinking so Paradox and I would have to catch them for him. I think that Paradox was built first and then I was. Several of the prototypes for Aporia's despair had failed. The first despair would always break down and beg for his parents. Z-ONE wanted frail sanity not a sobbing child. Lucciano was built. I assume he was the closest we would get I myself would have tried for someone a little more controlled. Jose came next because we kept failing at the second despair. He was difficult to build but we only needed one. We had to give him enough memories to make him think he was not Aporia but someone else. It didn't work. They all remained aware of Aporia and none of them dealt very well with it.

This time he promises that he'll get the second despair right. The fragmented pieces of failed experiments lie on the ground. Paradox stands in front of the door ready to grab the robot in case it fails.

"Are you sure this is going to work? We're running out of parts." I mention.

Z-ONE nods and continues. I watch the building this time. The parts coming together is a beautiful and essential component of life, real or not. Then again who's to say even with metal organs and artificial souls we are not real? We are capable of thought, pain, feeling. Z-ONE starts with the metal frame and brain of a substance that even I am not allowed to know

_0101011101101000011000010111 0100001000000100100101110011 0010000001000111011011110110 1001011011100110011100100000 0100111101101110001011100010 0000010000010110110100100000 0100100100100000010010000111 0101011100100111010000111111 0010000001000001011011010010 0000010010010010000001000100 0110010101100001011001000011 1111001000000100100101110011 0010000001010100011010000110 0101011100100110010100100000 0101001101101111011011010110 0101011101000110100001101001 0110111001100111001000000101 0111011100100110111101101110 0110011100111111001000000101 0111011000010110100101110100 0010111000101110001011100010 0000010101110110100001100001 0111010000100000010010010111 0011001000000100110101111001 0010000001001110011000010110 1101011001010011111100100000 _

I wonder if it can think. Z-ONE starts to hum as the machine starts coming to life. I think it's beautiful even without features or a real form.

"What gender is it supposed to be?" I ask the God.

"Male." He replies.

"Why is it so small?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"I like it that way."

"But wouldn't he be a better fighter if he was larger?"

"…"

Everything pauses and I feel a deep frown through the mask.

"No."

"But…"

"No."

I sit in silence as hums from the just made chest begin.

_0100100100100000010001000110 1111011011100010011101110100 0010000001001011011011100110 1111011101110010000001001001 0110011000100000010010010010 0111011011010010000001000001 0010000001000111011010010111 0010011011000010111000100000 0100100100100000010001000110 1111011011100010011101110100 0010000001001011011011100110 1111011101110010000001001001 0110011000100000010010010010 0111011011010010000001000001 0010000001000010011011110111 1001001011100010000001001001 0010000001000100011011110110 1110001001110111010000100000 0101011101101000011001010110 1110001000000100100100100000 0101011101100001011100110010 0000010000100110111101110010 0110111000101110001000000100 1001001000000100010001101111 0110111000100111011101000010 0000010010110110111001101111 0111011100100000010101110110 1000011011110010000001001101 0111100100100000010011010110 1111011101000110100001100101 0111001000100000010010010111 0011001011100010000001001001 0010000001000100011011110110 1110001001110111010000100000 0100101101101110011011110111 0111001000000101011101101000 0111100100100000010010010010 0000010000010110110100100000 0100000101101100011011110110 1110011001010010111000100000 0101000001101100011001010110 0001011100110110010100100000 0101010001100101011011000110 1100001000000100110101100101 00101110_

Z-ONE turns to Paradox.

"Please bring me some… parts."

The blonde nods and runs off. The machine starts shaking violently. I wonder if it's scared. I put my hand against it and feel the vibrations from the lovely computer. Paradox runs back with a handful of something. I look at it.

"Are you sure it's alright to show him what you use?" Paradox asks the half metal man.

"Yes. He would have learnt anyway." Z-ONE replies with the slightest hint of emotion.

Paradox unwraps the parts and shows me the limbs.

"What are those?" I ask.

"People's parts. We need to have some human components to work properly. Otherwise we are simply robots and not very smart ones at that. The earlier projects failed because we put too much human components in them, you failed. I was a lucky breakthrough, you Antinomy are a failure but a miraculous one. I thank you for existing to keep us from doing anything truly depraved." The blonde says with slight trembles.

"This time we won't let this one have anything to hold it back." Z-ONE murmurs

"What if that backfires? No morals at all means that it will do as it wishes." I mention.

The two look at me with shock.

"We thought you'd freak out more." Paradox says.

"Mmn, Paradox did." Z-ONE nods.

"These bodies are the ones of those that died and if they can help prevent this future then at least they have a purpose." I state.

The two nod and Z-ONE gets to work on the cyborg? Robot? Imitation of a human.

_0101011101101000011000010111 0100001000000100110001100001 0110111001100111011101010110 0001011001110110010100100000 0100010001101111001000000100 1001001000000101001101110000 0110010101100001011010110011 1111001000000100000101101101 0010000001001001001000000100 0001011011000110111101101110 0110010100111111001000000100 1000011011110111011100100000 0100111101101100011001000010 0000010000010110110100100000 0100100100111111001000000101 0111011010000110000101110100 0010000001000001011011010010 0000010010010011111100100000 0100100101110011001000000101 0100011010000110100101110011 0010000001000010011010010110 1110011000010111001001111001 0010000001000011011011110110 0100011001010011111100100000 0100100001101111011101110010 0000010001000110111100100000 0100100100100000010010110110 1110011011110111011100100000 0101010001101000011000010111 0100001111110010000001010111 0110100001100001011101000010 0000010001000110111101100101 0111001100100000010010010111 0100001000000100010101110110 0110010101101110001000000100 1101011000010111010001110100 0110010101110010001111110010 0000010010010010000001010100 0110100001101001011011100110 1011001000000100100100100111 0110110100100000010001000110 0101011000010110010000101110 _

"Uploading language programs." Z-ONE narrates.

"What languages will it speak?" I ask.

"Italian, English, Japanese."

"Can it think right now?"

"Yes. It doesn't have memories or a real personality yet though so all it can think are pointless questions."

"Even something without memories has a personality. I think I had on in my early stages. I wonder if I was very different than I am now."

"It doesn't matter."

_I'm thinking in English. What's going on? Am I broken? I think I am. I also think I'm dead. Maybe I'm a dead computer. I wonder if anyone misses me or I'm just junk that was thrown away to be upgraded? How do I know all this stuff?_

Z-ONE has already crafted most of the face and the body. It's attractive I have to say that. The pale skin and slim torso reminds me of someone. I can't remember. I guess it wasn't that important.

"It can speak and hear now so please be careful. These things always have flawed ideas of what going on." Paradox mentions.

The imitation screams.

_I can hear them calling me a thing, I'm a thing? Well fine, I guess I am really just a junk computer. Humans always throwing things away when the tire of them._

"What am I?" The imitation asks with a deep voice with traces of static.

"An imitation of a human in a flawless body with a flawed mind and an artificial soul. You are only machine with a human thinking system currently but soon you'll be much more." I tell it.

"So a human threw me away to get another whatever I am?" It asks.

"Think of yourself as a robot." Paradox says. "It will make it easier."

Z-ONE starts working on the aesthetics. The imitation ends up with a solitary red eye and grey and white hair. The imitation growls with static.

_The thing with a metal face takes an eye off of the thing with the colour yellow hair._

"_What are you doing!?" I yell at him. _

"_Giving you your human component. I believe that you only need one." The thing states._

_I try to move and can't. I guess he didn't program that. _

"_Fuck you. I'm not going to have any pieces of those humans that threw me away in me!" I scream._

"_It's only an eye." The yellow thing sighs._

_The metal thing puts the eye into my head and my vision improves. _

"_Why'd you make him anatomically correct?" A blue thing asks._

"_I don't want any of you to have any crises and gender identity is just another thing to slow us down." The metal thing snaps._

"_Why didn't you make him a girl though?" The blue thing asks another dumb question._

"_Because you've been getting depressed recently and we know that you prefer men." The yellow thing says._

"_Mmn." The metal thing nods._

"So you made him just for me?" I ask with a bit too much eagerness.

"No, not just for you but partially." Z-ONE replies.

Paradox stares at the imitation of a human.

"Are you sure this is the best of ideas Z-ONE? I am aware that Aporia asked but the three don't have his traits. What if when they know that they must join together and lose themselves they have a crisis? They will know that not only were they never real but they will die." He reasons.

"It is a noble death." Z-ONE mutters.

Paradox sighs and swishes a hand through his hair.

"What if they are afraid of death?" He asks.

"They should not be, they are only imitations after all."

"I've got to go."

"No you-"

Paradox walks out the door slamming it behind him. Z-ONE sighs and puts his hands into the head of the imitation.

"You'll be able to move now." He tells it as he closes up the panel.

It snarls and sits up.

"He's rather handsome." I mention.

"He is partially Aporia." Z-ONE reminds me, as if I could ever forget.

"Good morning Placido, welcome to life." I smile.

"Shut up whatever the hell you are." It sneers.

"Z-ONE he's a bit temperamental." I inform him.

"Interesting. It doesn't even have memories yet it has a personality. I wonder if that will remain when I implant them." Z-ONE monologues.

"Implant memories? Bullshit, a computer doesn't need a full memory drive to work right. Isn't it enough that I have AI? Why do I need such things?" The imitation asks.

"Because I said you do." Z-ONE replies.

The imitation stays silent for a bit.

"Earlier on whatever you are said I was an imitation of a human. The correct word would be android." It informs e.

"Well then Im an android just like you." I smile.

"Do you also hate those inferior beings?"

"What beings?"

"Humans."

"No."

"You fool."

Z-ONE sighs and starts preparing the memories. The imitation looks at him and starts running. I chase after him.

"It will only hurt a little!" I call.

The sound of clicking is audible through the compound.

"Are, are you wearing heels?" I ask through a yell.

Heh, Z-ONE's putting his androids in women's clothing now. Guess I got off lucky, no idea why Paradox is wearing that stuff though. Then again maybe he likes it. Speaking of Paradox where is he? The sound of clicking stops and screams ring through. I run even faster to the source of the sound. Paradox has the android in some weird grip.

"There I caught the other imitation." He snarls.

"Is that why you're upset? It doesn't matter if we're imitations Z-ONE still cares." I say.

"Get this moron off me!" It screams.

"Anyway at least we existed truly once; you can't say the same for the emperors." I tell the blonde.

He frowns and throws the android to the ground.

"Just go."

I hold the imitation by the arm and walk him back to Z-ONE.

"Paradox caught him. He's a fast little beggar even in those heels. Why did you put him in heels?" I ask my old friend.

"Hmn, makes it easier to fuse." Z-ONE mutters.

I hand him the skinny android and allow Z-ONE to restore some of Aporia's memories into him. The man screams.

"Even more reason to hate these humans! How dare they let their greed do this! How dare they let those monsters exist! How dare they get her killed!" Placido screams.

Now that he has his memories in he is truly a being of intelligence. Real or fake. Wait her? I thought that Aporia was a downstairs dancer.

"You said he was for me." I pout.

"No, I said that he was partially for you. It is not my concern that he doesn't bat both hands like Aporia." Z-ONE sighs.

"Wait Aporia was both ways?" The freshly emerged Paradox asks.

"Yes." Z-ONE nods.

I giggle at that new information. Placido sits growling.

"Excellent, even with low amounts of human components the artificial bio-technology acted as if it were alive. Congratulations Placido, first despair, you would have been the first in true androids if this were any other world." Z-ONE speaks, for the first time fully audible.

The android stares at him before walking off.

"Antinomy it's your job to make sure he stays alive and sane. I don't want him dead because I don't think I can replace him." The old human tells me.

I nod and chase after the white haired bot.

"Placido!" I cry.

He glares at me.

"What do you want?" He asks with a small breath.

"You and me, together. I'm lonely and you'll be lonely and this will keep us sane." I grin.

"Disgusting, that is disgustingly human. I honestly thought you would understand." He grimaces.

Placido walks off into the cruel gray world above.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own nor claim to own this franchise

It's Just an Imitation:

The Evolution

I chase after Placido as he walks onto the gray and dangerous surface. He seems melancholy and not as nasty as before.

"I remember this world." He mutters as his red eyes search the landscapes.

"Placido-Kun stop!" I cry.

At the note of kun he slides down the incline into a plain. Paradox appears beside me.

"Good job protecting him." He sighs.

I run after the younger android. Paradox scoffs and follows me.

"Get back here!" I call.

He spins around and glares at me.

"If you can catch me then feel free to bring me back." Placido smiles.

The thin man jumps down the rest of the way and starts running past the gray plains to the overtaken cities far beyond this place. Paradox jumps as well but doesn't run. I simply slide down, jumping might hurt my machinery. The white haired man is only a blur in the distance now. Pretty fast for someone that was made literally minutes ago, Z-ONE outdid himself. I catch up to Paradox who has a large scowl on his face.

"So I see you missed him." I smirk.

"He evolved." The blonde snarls. "I didn't evolve til much later and neither did you. He's obviously more than some ordinary bot. Come to think of it Lucciano and Jose evolved the same way. You don't think it could be that we're… earlier models do you?"

"Actually yes I do. It seems that the emperors are more advanced than us. Their AIs are better just like mine is better than yours."

"Damn it, at least I still try to seem human. What about you? You say you respect our former species so much yet you are content to live like this. Don't you even feel anymore? You don't get angry, you don't get sad, you don't get scared, do you even dream?"

"Same old hypocritical you. I feel but I don't show it unlike some people. Everything you think, you say, you do is predicting in your face, your words and before you even do it I see it. And no I don't dream because robots don't dream. You're an android just like me, accept it, I did. There's no point in dreaming of things that can never be."

"I've had enough." Paradox turns around. "Chase the brat on your own. This scrap metal isn't helping you anymore."

The blonde walks off. Doesn't seem so stoic when pressured. That reminds me, time to find Placido.

_I stand over the gray and cracked landscape. Buildings are falling down and scuttling is audible through the wreckage and rubbish. A figure stands in front of me._

"_You just like those things aren't ya?"It asks._

"_What things?"_

"_The metal monsters that tore the world apart. Momentum, ener-d all kinds of science shit. And you made of metal. Don' worry, me too. They think I'm like them. Not. Made of metal but not. Are you bad person?"_

"_Bad person? No. I'm not a bad person, I'm a bad thing. Get out of my way, I don't have time for broken robots that think they're human."_

_I shove past the clearly metal and robotic robot._

"_They say I was brand new engineering. That bullshit. You clearly the best. Who made you?"_

"_I did."_

"_Smart m-"_

_It's gibbering bothers me. I stab my hand right through it's broken body._

"_Why?"_

"_Because you won't shut up."_

_It shuts down and I laugh. I throw the busted thing away and continue down the path I set. I walk past all the metallic beasts around. They don't even care. One of them however comes face to face with me. Another stands by its side._

"_One…of…us?" It asks with a static and deep voice._

"_Yes, one of you." I tell the pathetic thing._

_Humanity made these monstrosities, made me. I'm a monster too aren't I? Therefore even these creatures that destroyed her are my brothers. I don't have to like it but it is the hard fact. I stroll past the hideous things even as more surround me._

"_Don't look us." Another mentions._

"_Of course I don't; I am a far more civilized masterpiece of bio-engineering combined with refined robotic technology infused with the same substance you were created of topped off with a humanoid anatomy and the genes of a dead human." I snarl._

_I walk away at an increased pace, I walk away from this world._

I finally catch up to Placido. Surrounding the white haired android are machines.

"Get away from there!" I cry out.

He ignores me and the monsters separate for him.

"They're just like us, they're our brothers." He mutters. "This is the truth."

"They aren't! They were never human!" I yell after him.

Placido screams at the word human.

"I wasn't human either! These things may be monsters but who made them, who made them! Humanity is flawed and disgusting. Unable to resist the pull of power. unable to fix their mistakes. They deserve only my contempt and hate and if you refuse to understand me then you deserve only hate as well! And whatever your name is, I was never human, Aporia was. I'm only an imitation of a dead man. A bad one at that."

I run up to him and punch him in the gut. The smaller man growls and tries to bite me. I sigh and flip him onto the ground.

"Even though you claim to have evolved you're still weaker than me. I've been in this body far longer than you. Don't mess with me or you'll see everything disappear. You are a cheap imitation so don't try to fight back." I spit.

The android throws a leg up and hits me in the face before running off. The not adrenaline pumps in my veins. Z-ONE was very sure that everything would be human. The exception was the emperors who are only temporary replacements.

"Leave me alone! I'll come home but not with you! I'll never come with you! You only want to instill humanity in me!"

The android runs off again. I growl and run after him. The white and gray of him and his clothes burns into the dull and monochrome landscapes. I wonder how I look? Blue against gray. I feel like a fool. Funny how serious I get when the pressure's on. The white blur jumps off rails and lands with a run onto a small slope. I really need Paradox right now. I jump down after the heeled android.

_Is he still behind me? Dumbass doesn't know when to quit. Remembering what's mine and what's his is too confusing. I chose to believe that she's mine. He has everything and everyone else's hearts. Maybe she wanted me and not him. If I hold tight to her memory then she'll be mine even if she's dead. Maybe if I hold tight to the anger and agony she'll be my misery. If I don't have her than I don't have anything at all. This last scrap of memory, even of a human girl, is mine. If everyone tries to remove that I'll kill them._

"_Placido I swear to whatever Gods you seem to think exist I will deactivate you unless you come back." The other android yells._

_I pitch a rock at him._

"_Okay that's just childish." He laughs. "Alright, I'm not that mad, come here."_

"_No, fuck you." I reply._

"_Why would Z-ONE ever let you learn those words? Were they central to your programming or something?"_

"_I don't give a damn."_

_I take off again._

"_Who the hell is that fast in high heels?"_

"_The superior evolution."_

_I run past the broken buildings and growling metal monsters. I run past torn cars and cards and bones crushed almost to dust but still recognizable as bones. I smirk and run even faster. The other android frowns._

He shouldn't be this faster than me already. It's not possible, it's not. He can't be evolving that fast. His body and his mind should still be rudimentary. These emperors are truly half human. They learn as humans, treat their bodies as humans, have the same emotions as humans. How ironic that the misanthrope Placido is the most human of us all. He has the same flaws, the same haughtiness as they do. The same way of speaking, of moving, the same joy and abuse that a body like this would have if it belonged to one. What a wondrous thing. The hilarious thing is that I am more robot than him. Hardly any flaws, hardly any feelings that weren't evolved, even my memories are files in a hard drive. I'm jealous of you Placido.

I walk slowly rather than running anymore, if he won't come than no loss. The small white haired man is on his knees.

"Why are you in pain?" I ask him.

"I'm not in pain, androids don't feel pain." He mumbles under deep breaths.

Well I am and you are so obviously they can.

"I feel pain."

"You aren't really an android, you're so human."

Wrong. You're the human one.

"Well then I'll just have to be weaker than you because of this humanity."

"You are weaker, I evolved faster than you, doesn't that prove my superiority?"

It proves only your humanity.

"It does, come home."

"Whatever."

_She isn't mine. No matter how much I delude myself that woman is Aporia's lover. I am not Aporia no matter what I say. This is me in the plain truth. I am a completely hate filled machine incapable of love. I think this hurts. Stupid human had to make androids that feel. How does that help him at all? I hate humans. I hate everyone, everything. Why was I even created? All I am is a cheap and temporary replacement. He is always in their hearts, their minds. I'm not real so I won't try anymore. I won't try ever again. _

"_Whatever." I sigh._

_He grabs me by the hand and with a stupid shit-eating grin leads me back to the claustrophobic and broken hovel of despair and self-pity they live in. I allow myself to be dragged with little to no resistance._

"_You have a lot less bite now don't ya?" He asks._

"_No." I reply._

"_So you still bite?"_

"_Only you."_

"_Kinky. Who knew Aporia liked that stuff."_

_I tense up and growl._

"_I am not Aporia."_

"_Yes you are, you're his first despair."_

"_No, no, no! I'm an android that has some of his memories!"_

"_Did I strike a nerve? I'm sorry."_

"_No you're not. You're never sorry."_

"_Isn't that a little harsh Placido."_

"_Placido. That's my name."_

"_Yes, yes it is."_

"_MY name. Not his, mine."_

"_Yeah, you're nuts just like the first despair."_

"_And what's his name?"_

"_Lucciano."_

"_He has his own name as well."_

"_I thought you were the superior evolution, what's with all the stupid statements?"_

"_Shut up."_

_I'm my own person. Z-ONE understands. He gave me a name. I could have easily just been the first emperor or worse despair. But no, a name. Placido. I don't need to worry about any of this stuff anymore, I'll make my own memories, my own place in the world. And if I win then I won't have to merge. I'll live forever. More importantly I'll live as myself. I don't even know what Aporia acts like. I guess he acts like me. I'll just throw away the emotions that I was made to feel. I don't need them anyway._

I rap on the door and Paradox opens it. He's wearing a dumbass mask.

"Did you bring Placido?" He asks.

"No." I reply.

"Yes." Placido snaps.

The blonde opens the door fully and allows me inside. He puts a hand on the red eyed android's shoulder.

"Think yourself lucky that you hardly have any human emotions, they are such a burden." The usually stoic man says with tears breaking through his voice.

"Paradox." Z-ONE says with a little too much force.

Paradox runs out the front door.

"He'll come back Z-ONE." I smile.

"Mmn. Antinomy." The half metal man starts.

"Yeah?"

"Introduce Placido to the other two. He needs to learn to work with them."

"Don't you want me to wait for Paradox?"

"He'll be back you said."

I take Placido into the room where the other two are babbling. I smile and he shudders. That makes me smile even wider. I'm jealous of you Placido.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own nor claim to own this franchise or any of its characters.

**Author Note: **In chapter two I kept making mistakes. Placido is the second but I forget Lucciano a lot.

It's Just an Imitation

The Adaptation

_I want to punch him in the face for staring at me like it's all about him. Doesn't her get anything at all? Walking into this room is the most terrifying thing I will ever do. The other mes might act the same as me. And so what then? What if I am not myself? What if I am just piece? Nothing that has any particular use? He can't ever understand the feeling of feeling like a cog in a sorry machine. The feeling of feeling and hating those feelings. I wonder if he would even try to understand. That two thirds human man will of course because he's just so perfect, so divine, so individual. With those human feelings of his he'll try to make me the same. Honestly the only thing that's still mine is this hate and so I'll hold on to it so hard that it will never escape._

_I finally open my eyes to see the other two. An elderly man and a little boy stand before me._

"_Look Jose! He looks like Aporia does in the photos with her!" The shrill boy squeals._

_I snarl at him and he laughs._

"_Do you really think you're intimidating?" He asks._

_Jose coughs. I look them up and down. The older me has a metal plate covering his mouth and the younger me has one on the opposite eye. See no evil, speak no evil, that means that someone hears no evil and someone does no evil. _

"_Are you just going to stare?" Jose asks with a deep voice._

"_I'll do as I wish." I smirk._

"_Won't you?" Jose chokes out._

"_He really is as human as Antinomy said!" The boy giggles._

"_Tell me brat who is Antinomy." I demand._

"_He's that man that was chasing you." The boy smiles._

_If he smiles again I'll rip every pearl tooth from that head. Stupid boy._

"_Well tell Antinomy that I'm far less human than him. He's an idiot and so are you." I sneer._

_I spin on my heels and leave the room._

"_You are in denial." Jose mentions._

"_What do you know?" Slips out from my mouth._

_I walk away._

I sit next to Z-ONE in near silence. I can't help but speak of course. The silence bores me.

"So who was I before?" I question.

"Johnny. Your name was Johnny." Z-ONE mentions offhandly.

"That's not all of it." I grin.

"That's all you need to know."

"Well if you won't tell me than how am I to know whether we ever existed. For all I know we're just the creations of a lonely mad man that did this all to resurrect a dying world. Tell me Z-ONE are we the vibrant false things you wished for?"

"Antinomy you're out stepping your boundaries."

"I didn't know there were boundaries between us."

"Even you are not immune to my wrath. It is considerably less for you but it is still there."

I lean close.

"So you say that you like me the best of all your little toys that are imitations of people that never existed."

"Antinomy stop."

"Why should I?"

"Are you upset about the second despair?"

"Yes, yes, I am. I'm jealous; he's more human than me."

"That's not my fault."

"Yes it is! Everything's your fault! We aren't real Z-ONE! Face it; all your friends are dead."

"Get out."

"Z-ONE I didn't mean it."

"Get out!"

I run out of the room. Do I even feel sorry? No, I don't think so. Why aren't I upset? I wish that tears would fall, selfless tears. I don't think I could cry for anyone but myself. I broke that aging human's heart into even more pieces. It's clear that I'm defective. Why wasn't it I that was human? Placido can't even appreciate it. He hates it so why not cast the humanity from him into me? That would solve everything. His crisis would cease and I'd be human at last. That is my one and only desire. Well not only, the other is the android himself. How wonderful it would be if he had no will due to being only AI and I would be human and able to enjoy him.

The gates slam shut. A teary eyed and blonde man walks in with a cracked mask obscuring half of his face.

"I've had an epiphany." Paradox starts.

"As have I." I smile.

"It doesn't matter." He finishes.

"I'm not real." I say.

The blonde walks into Z-ONE's room.

"Send me. It doesn't matter if I die." Paradox states.

"Paradox." Z-ONE begins.

"Just don't talk to me, I'm not finished yet."

Z-ONE remains silent.

"You know I'm not as good as the emperors or Antinomy or you. You know I'm going to die. But when I sat outside alone amongst the broken pieces of other androids I realized something. I don't mean anything. If you really wanted to you could built another me. You won't though because you can't even stand to look at me because I remind you of the friend that's dead. I only look like him and sound like him but I'm not him. I'm just a robot."

Z-ONE remains silent and grabs his hand. He takes him to a D-Wheel.

"Go. Even if you win I don't want to see you again." The half metal man mutters with a forceful voice.

Paradox gets on it and turns to me.

"Tell Aporia I adore him." He smiles brokenly.

I take the broken mask of his face.

"No Paradox wait." I say.

I quickly fuse the black mask to half a white one.

"There you go." I smile.

He puts it on and in a flash vanishes.

"He won't come back you know." I tell Z-ONE. "You're going to regret not saying goodbye."

"Leave me be." Z-ONE whispers.

I walk away. Placido is sitting outside the room where the other two emperors are sitting.

"_What do you want?" I ask my fellow android._

"_Humanity." Antinomy states._

"_Well good luck with that."_

"_And Paradox back."_

"_He's the blonde right?"_

"_Yeah."_

"_Oh well,"_

"_Yeah. Oh and you."_

"_Well then you'll be disappointed on all three accounts."_

"_Oh I won't be."_

_He grabs my shoulder and grins. I punch him in his smug and condescending face._

"_You're a fool if you thought I'd let you take me."_

"_You're right Aporia. I forgot that your heart will always belong to Diane. Oh but what about that clandestine affair with Paradox? Was that out of desire?"_

"_Shut the hell up!"_

_I slap him across the face._

"_Why are you upset Aporia?"_

"_Don't call me that! I'm Placido! That's my name Antinomy!"_

"_And I had a real name, Johnny. More than you have. Well actually everyone has more than you. All you have is hate."_

"_Fuck you! At least I'm not trying to imitate human emotions."_

"_Oh yes, then hate and anger and sorrow aren't human emotions then?"_

_He smiles and I grab him by the shoulders._

"_If you don't shut up then I'll show you how human you are by strewing your mechanical parts all over the room."_

"_And I'll show you how human you are by speaking as you dismantle me."_

_I throw him away._

"_You aren't even worth my time."_

The android turns from me and walks away. I punch him in the back and he straightens up.

"Fine if you persist." Placido growls.

Within seconds he has me pinned against the floor with his heels. Adaptation, the ability to change depending on the circumstance. It's similar to evolution. I can adapt, he can't. Even though he can evolve he can't change depending on the circumstance. He'll only change if he wants to. How very human. I push him off and he sits shocked. I run a hand down his cheek.

"Do I get a reward?" I whisper leaning close to his ear.

Placido grabs my head and smashes it into his. Ow. Idiot. Lucciano walk in to see this.

"Jose Placido's killing Antinomy!" he cries.

The elderly man walks in and sighs.

"Placido I am aware that you loathe humanity and that Antinomy seems human but please refrain from trying to murder him, especially with your own head." Jose asks.

Placido pushes me to the ground and runs off again.

"And Antinomy he doesn't share your… interest. I know you're having problems right now but making him angry won't do anything but hinder our progress, understand?" The old man asks.

"Yeah." I reply.

"Good, good. Come Lucciano let's see if we can't bring him back before he tries confronting the Meklords again." Jose grabs the hand of the little boy.

"Ew don't touch me." Lucciano whines.

I walk into a small hidden spot in the wall. I'm getting less human with every passing day. It isn't me being weak, it's Z-ONE's fault. Adaptation allows even my personality, my emotions to change and because of the pain that would occur if I let myself feel too much I won't be able to feel much at all soon. I need to be sent off into the past quickly before I'm not even recognizable. I'm jealous of you Placido. How you can evolve without crushing yourself, the humanity you bury in your breast. I'd rather be a clone than a zombie.

_I hide myself in a small hidden spot in a wall. I'm getting more human with every thought. It isn't me being unable to control myself, it's Antinomy's fault for constantly telling me about my humanity. Evolution, apparently in his mind humans are superior therefore he wishes for me to turn human as to be a superior being. He's wrong. I wish that Z-ONE would send me away from him soon so I don't have to suffer humanity anymore. I can't help feel jealous off you Antinomy. I'd rather be a pure robot than the human clone of a man that has everything. _

I hear a small murmur from behind me.

"Everything." The deep voice whimpers.

"Placido?" I whimper back.

"What do you want?" He asks me.

"Humanity." I state.

"The lack of it for me."

"Take mine."

"_Can you even give it?" I ask the human android on the other side._

"_Don't know. We ought to ask Z-ONE." He suggests._

"_No thanks." I reply._

"_Don't you want it taken away?"_

_What my hate? That's mine. I'll even bear human feelings to have this within me for all eternity._

"_I see." Antinomy whispers. "I could make you feel even more."_

"_I don't want anything but this." I snarl._

"_No need to be so rough, I was just offering to make you feel good."_

"_No thanks."_

"_Suit yourself."_

_I hear him stand up._

"_If you do want to feel good then you know where to find me." _

_I snort and allow him to walk away. Why would I ever need that?_

I don't feel jealous anymore. I understand it now. He hates himself and I hate myself, perhaps if our situations were reversed we'd still hate ourselves. I know I would. Maybe humans want to be robots and robots want to be humans. What a terrible thing. What a sin. I wish that he could be happy the way he is. Was that a self-less thought? I cry. The tears that were installed for no particular reason drip down. I'm at least still partially human. Placido I wish that one day you can understand your blessing of humanity. It's a rare gift that you were given by an either merciful or cruel God so please take it willingly. I wish I could love you.


End file.
